Life expectancy in the United States continues to decline due to an increase in suicide and overdose rates

The worrying increase in the number of suicides associated with our uncontrollable opioid addiction crisis has reduced the average life expectancy of the American population, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Life expectancy has been increasing slowly but steadily throughout the 20th century (with the exception of the few years surrounding the 1918 influenza epidemic) and in the first decade of the 21st century. But by 2012, it has plateaued and in 2015, it began to fall – although the average for women only remained stable.

"Tragically, this disturbing trend is largely due to deaths from drug overdose and suicide," said CDC director Robert Redfield in a statement.

"Life expectancy gives us insight into the general state of health of the country. These disturbing statistics remind us that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, in avoidable conditions. [The] DCC is committed to putting science to work to protect the health of the United States, but we all need to work together to reverse this trend and help ensure that all Americans live longer and healthier lives. "

Using a database of information on death certificates from 50 US states, a team of CDC researchers determined that the overall life expectancy of Americans had gone up from 78.7 years in 2016 to 78.6 years in 2017, under the effect of a reduction of 0.1 years in men. Life expectancy for women was 81.1 years for both years, while men's life expectancy increased from 76.2 years to 76.1 years.

The top 10 causes of death, which account for 74% of all deaths in the United States, remained the same between 2016 and 2017. In the smallest order of numbers, this is the number of deaths: heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease and suicide. However, rates for all but three of them increased in 2017 (the cancer death rate decreased by 2.1% and the rates of heart and kidney disease remained the same).

In 2017, there were 70,237 fatal overdoses, an increase of 9.6% over 2016. The high rate of these deaths, classified as "unintentional injuries", was observed in both sexes. and in all age groups.

Although the number of deaths from opioid overdose of all types has increased since 1999, the variation in synthetic opioid-induced mortality other than methadone, ie products such as fentanyl, has seen the most alarming rise. The rate has increased by about 71% per year since 2013.

Between 2016 and 2017, suicide rates increased by 3.7%. In a sobering report released earlier this year, the CDC announced that the number of Americans ages 10 and older who committed suicide in 2016 (nearly 45,000) was 30% higher than that. in 1999.

We hope to be able to put an end to these rising trends by spending more money on mental health research as well as outreach and treatment services offered by the community, the states and the federal government.